The story Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is an autobiographical account of her life while growing up in the midst of political and religious turmoil in Iran. In summary, this is a coming of age story that highlights the unrest in Iran in the 1980s. Marjane is a social active girl and Persepolis shares her struggles with freedom throughout her life.
Because Persepolis is an autobiography, it gives a reader a unique first hand look into the complex political unrest in Iran in the 1980s. In September of 1980, the Iran-Iraq war started when Iraqi armed forces invades the western boarder of Iran. The attack was prompted by territorial and political conflict between the two countries. This lead to eight years of active fighting, until a ceasefire was called for in 1988. During these years of flighting, the daily life of those in Iran changed dramatically, especially for women. Before the Iran- Iraq war and the Iranian revolution, women were included in higher education. The choice of wearing a Hijab was left up the them, and they indulged in many western styles, including tight fitting clothing and high heels. Women were allowed to walk freely alone, shopping, getting their hair done, socializing, etc. This era is termed the Pahlavi Era and took place from 1925-1979. After this, the rights for women began to decline. This era, termed The Khomeini decade, lasted from 1979-1989 and is when Persepolis takes place. Under revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s new theocracy gave priority to Islamic tradition over modern ideas. Women were now required to wear a Hijab, or islamic headdress. They were segregated from men and taken out of the workforce. They essentially lost all of the westernized rights to which they had become so accustomed. After this, women took to political activism, fighting for their rights back.
Satrapi’s account helps to emphasize one of the main themes of the story, contrasting Iran to the rest of the world. Throughout her life, Marjane lives in and out of Iran. Through her story, she compares the different cultures in which she lives, giving insight into her the freedoms she is given in each place.
References:
“Iran-Iraq War.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/event/Iran-Iraq-War.
“Iranian Women – before and after the Islamic Revolution.” BBC News, BBC, 8 Feb. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47032829.
“The Women’s Movement.” The Iran Primer, 6 Oct. 2010, iranprimer.usip.org/resource/womens-movement.
Hello!
Great Presentation! I thought this was very interesting to get a more in depth background about the outside events going on during Marjane’s life through the Iran-Iraq War. This context presentation really helps me better contextualize the story and what exactly she was going through. I appreciate you breaking up the years of conflict into different categorical periods such as the “Pahlavi Era” or “The Khomeini decade”. It provides a better idea into the transitional periods associated with Marjane’s story, as well as the real life events taking place in Iran. Great Presentation again!
I enjoyed reading this context presentation as it provided a quick summary and major themes of the story. Reading the context presentation aids me in obtaining prominent knowledge before reading the stories to get a glimpse into the reading. Digging deeper into the story it was interesting to find out more about the alternative outlook of Iran with the use of writing an autobiography of first-hand experience to obtain further information on Iran without the negative media attention on Iran and the Islamic Revolution. Autobiographies are fundamental, as they serve as primary sources with direct evidence and first-hand witnesses of a particular event.
Hello,
Great job! I learned a lot from your presentation. You made a comparison about women’s daily life in Iran during Pahlavi Era and The Khomeini decade. Obviously, we can see how wonderful women’s life are before the revolution. However, women’s rights began to decline when the revolution start. When I read this, I also feel angry because as you said “Women were now required to wear a Hijab, or islamic headdress. They were segregated from men and taken out of the workforce”. From my perspective, these orders are radical and violate the most basic rights of women. Hence, it is understandable and correct for these women to fight for their rights.
Hello,
Great job! I learned a lot from your presentation. You made a comparison about women’s daily life in Iran during Pahlavi Era and The Khomeini decade. Obviously, we can see how wonderful women’s life are before the revolution. However, women’s rights began to decline when the revolution start. When I read this, I also feel angry because as you said “Women were now required to wear a Hijab, or islamic headdress. They were segregated from men and taken out of the workforce”. From my perspective, these orders are radical and violate the most basic rights of women. Hence, it is understandable and correct for these women to fight for their rights.
I’m interested to learn more about how Marjane’s life is different as she lives in and out of Iran in different cultures. Also, it will be interesting to see if her perspective changes of Iran as she experiences different cultures and different amounts of freedom in each. On the other hand, it helped that you explained the different eras in which women’s freedoms drastically changed in each of them. This will help provide clarification throughout the book as Marjane is living in Iran.
I enjoyed reading your context presentation. I had no idea that this type of backwards movement occurred during the Iran-Iraq war. I find it a tragedy that this revolution caused women to regress back into the “other” category that has been a common theme in this course. It is a shame that Iranian women were forced to gave priority to the Islamic tradition over the progressive rights for women.
Hello,
I really enjoyed reading Persepolis and agree with you that it provides a unique look into what was going on in Iraq during this time. I found the contrast between America and Iraq during this time very interesting. You mention the Pahlavi era from 1925-1979 as being a time when women were included and had very similar rights to men, beginning in the 1980s their rights began to diminish. However during the 1980s and 90s in America we saw so many firsts for women in the country. The first woman on the Supreme Court, the first woman sent to space, and the first female Secretary of State. Bills were also passed promoting women’s rights such as The Violence Against Women Act and the upholding of Roe vs Wade for minors. It was a shock to me that this discrimination and stripping of rights for women in Iran was so recent and happened at the same time that women were gaining rights and power in America.
Resource:
https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-01-20/timeline-the-womens-rights-movement-in-the-us
I enjoyed reading this presentation. I was not aware that before the Iran-Iraq war and Iranian revolution women were included in higher education, they were able to choose if they wanted to wear a hijab and they followed many western styles. The part about them participating in western styles interested me the most. It is very heartbreaking to hear about these women and how they have very little rights and are unable to dress how they want or even work like most men.
Hi! I really enjoyed your post from this week. Sometimes it is difficult for me to catch the themes of the story, but your post really allowed me to gain a good understanding about what I am reading. I also appreciated the history you provided as well because I feel like I have a good amount of background knowledge to accurately understand the time period that the story is taking place in. I am anxious to see how it ends up ending.
Hello,
I also did a presentation this week but i really loved how you incorporated the facts about woman and wearing a hijab. It is truly heartbreaking to re read all of these things that are still happening. I liked how you provided information about different cultures. I would find it interesting to see how differently marjanes experencices would be if she didnt have her family or wasnt born into religion.
I enjoyed your presentation. It is interesting to learn about how this is a coming of age story that gives first hand insight into the this war. Also the facts that you put about women who were forced to wear what they did not wish, and have all their rights of even walking freely alone taken away from them is very insightful and good information to fully understand the main character and her story.
I really enjoyed this presentation! I like how you discussed information about women and what they went through during this time. I did not know that they had so much freedom beforehand, and then it all just got taken away. It is so sad to me that they were not able to do things how they wanted.
Hi! I really enjoyed your presentation especially since my grandparents are from Iraq and Iran so it interesting to learn more about the history of where they are from. It is sad to learn how much these women went through during those times and how their freedom was stripped from them.
Hi! I enjoyed reading this! I enjoyed your emphasis on women’s rights being diminished, especially during this time where so much focus was all over the place, where women’s rights may have been looked over. Women are associated as being the “other,” in this time as they loss their education, choice of clothes, losing their social life, choices, and overall their freedom. This is not a matter to go overlooked, as it must be addressed.
This was a great presentation. I found it interesting of how you brought the history of Iranian woman and their freedom more to light. In the book it gave a a view at how women were starting to be treated unfair later in the revolution. Learning more of how these women held such power and had a voice for it to be taken away was a shame.
Hi! I really enjoyed your presentation and it was really interesting to learn about the history that led up to this oppression of women. I like that you detailed what happened in the war and the progression of women no longer being able to choose what they wear. I appreciated that you mentioned how women were taken out of the workforce, segregated from men, and lost many of their rights in general. I think we mainly focused on the aspect of the veil this week so i’m glad you mentioned these things as well. Great presentation!
Hi, I enjoyed reading your post and learned something from it. Before reading your post, I did not realize all the rights that were taken away from women during this time. It is sad to see all the freedoms women had, like choosing their clothes to walking alone, go away just because of the new government. This really was a step back in society when it comes to equality.
I enjoyed your inclusion of The Khomeini Decade from 1979-1989 because I learned something new today about Persepolis. Satrapi does a great job crafting this story because she explains the impacts of the Shah’s reign in its final years, the revolution, and the beginnings of the Islamic Republic in a universal way that everyone at all ages and nationalities can understand, especially if you do not know the history of Iran or are not from Iran. Persepolis also has the coming of age element to it where readers are able to learn about Marji, a strong and creative individual who reflects Satrapi.
Hello! I really enjoyed this presentation and I loved how you included the detailed history. It really helps build background and shows how discriminated against women were in the past, Society has come a long way from the past, but there’s still a very long way to go. It helped open my eye that Marji was truly a reflection of Satrapi as well; a powerful individual trying to live as a woman in Iran.
Hello!! I relayed enjoyed your presentation! I think that the events that played through this were explained really well! you really included a lot of detail! I find it hard to imagine what it must have been like to live life with this going on. it makes me grateful for the country I live in and the sacrifices others have made for this country!